This invention relates generally to stairway chairlift mechanisms for individually transporting passengers in ascending and descending directions along a stairway, and, more particularly, to seat mechanisms for use in such stairway chairlifts.
Over the years, a variety of mechanisms have been developed for increasing the mobility of people, such as those confined to wheelchairs, who have difficulty climbing up and down stairs. One of the most successful of these mechanisms has been the stairway chairlift which, in its most common form, comprises a rigid steel rail, mounted along a stairway, and a motorized chair unit adapted to ride along the rail. Typically, the rail is positioned adjacent a wall along the stairway, and the chair unit includes a passenger seat at its upper end on which the passenger sits. To avoid interference with ordinary use of the stairway, stairway chairlifts are preferably arranged to project outwardly from the stairway walls as little as possible.
To increase the ease with which a passenger of oftentimes limited mobility can move onto and off of the seat, prior stairway chairlifts have included pivotable seats arranged to rotate around a vertical axis. Such arrangements permit the passenger to rotate the seat so as to avoid having to approach or leave at an awkward angle when moving onto or off of the seat. In such prior arrangements, the seat merely rotates around the vertical axis which must be spaced sufficiently far from the stairway wall as to avoid interference with the wall during rotation. This, in turn, increases the distance by which the stairway chairlift must be spaced from the wall, increases the overall dimensions of the stairway chairlift, and runs counter to the general goal of minimizing overall interference with ordinary use of the stairway.
In the past, it has been contemplated that the users of stairway chairlifts would be people who, while unable to climb stairs with ease, nevertheless have some use of their legs and can walk short distances to climb onto or off of the chairlift seat. When wheelchair-bound people attempt to use such prior chairlifts, however, considerable difficulty can be encountered in moving between the wheelchair and the seat.
In view of the foregoing, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a new and improved stairway chairlift.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved seat swivel mechanism for use with stairway chairlifts.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a seat swivel mechanism for stairway chairlifts wherein a pivoting seat feature is provided without a corresponding increase in the degree to which the stairway chairlift projects outwardly from the stairway wall.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an improved stairway chairlift which is adapted for convenient use by wheelchair-bound passengers.